Maybe it was bias that made him think it, but Endymion thought his betrothed is very pretty when she's relaxed, the way her dusk blue eyes twinkle with the first stars of the evening and her hair catches the sun and seems to glow with inner fire… Yes, Princess Aurora of the Sun Kingdom is attractive, indeed, but that was not why he was engaged to her.

Her parents had been at door since before his birth, begging and courting his parents to allow a marriage contract to be arranged. A merger of two autonomous kingdoms was never something to be approached lightly, so it had taken over ten years to just get a framework down on paper… To say nothing of the actual marriage contract the merger was dependent on.

"Endymion, are you sure it'll be alright for my cousin to be a bridesmaid? I know the rough relations Earth has with the Moon…" Princess Aurora asks as the pair make their way around the Earth Palace's grounds. Idly, she notes Gemini (her own twin sister) and Cancer keeping guard almost out of sight. She'd have to have a word about their lack of stealth with them later.

"I don't honestly see why it would be. Mother and Father haven't said anything against it," Endymion answers.

"I'll have to have my parents double check that with them… I just want this to go with no problems." Aurora's hand unconsciously finds his as they continue walking, a small smile finding its way to her face. She wasn't about to let anyone know it, but she felt this match was better than any other match she could've come up with on her own. She respects the man she was to marry, finding him a very able confidant, and they get along very well… She even felt it might be possible for her to love him once she knew him better.

"Then why are you considering her as a bridesmaid. I'm sure Princess Serenity is a lovely girl, but the last thing we need is an interplanetary incident ruining our wedding," Endymion points out shrewdly. It causes Aurora to bite her lip thoughtfully.

"It was just a suggestion from my uncle that I liked…" Aurora answered pensively, pausing before brightly going on, "It'd make for a nice show of unity. Think of it, Endymion, the Heirs of the three major Kingdoms in the system in the same room and celebrating."

"You're right. It's a brilliant idea. If we can pull it off, let's have her in the wedding party," Endymion responded enthusiastically. Aurora's face lights up with a smile at hearing the idea was brilliant. They continue walking on and planning their wedding, not minding the searching eyes of their following watchers.

Away from her Sun Kingdom husband and in the darkness of the new moon, Queen Serenity rages in a fury, her fist colliding forcibly with her vanity, making a crack in the mirror to grow. The notes she'd found in Princess Arcadia Suisei's room are clenched in her white-knuckled hand. The Sun Kingdom is planning a bloodless coup, are they? One that would take the whole system out of the Moon Kingdom's hands… Well… I'll just have to do something about that. Serenity thinks, her hand caressing the Silver Moon Crystal.

Zoicite idly keeps an eye on his charge, Prince Endymion, with Princess Aurora as they make their daily rounds of the Earth Palace's gardens. The white-haired general relies mainly on Princess Aurora's guard to alert him if anything went wrong when he hears laughing voices in the hall beyond his balcony perch.

"Stop it, Kunzite-love... We'll be seen!" The familiar voice of Princess Estella of Gemini and the Sun laughingly chides the Head General of Endymion's Guard as Zoicite peers around the corner to find the pair near the door to Kunzite's quarters. Supposedly, Gemini was there to continue the coordinating that would be necessary for the guards' duties, but Zoicite had begun to suspect that the two commanders were spending more time on their project than was truly needed for the integration of both guards. It didn't hurt his suspicions when Kunzite would often be as anxious as Endymion was when Princesses Aurora and Estella were due to arrive.

"And what if I want the world to see, my love?" Kunzite retorts, his voice dark with desire and low so Zoisite almost couldn't hear.

"Patience, my prince... After the wedding... Then we can tell the world," Estella responds consolingly, caressing Kunzite's cheek loverly with an elegant hand. A ring of brilliant pink-purple stone on her finger catches Zoicite's eye as the couple turn into the room.

"Doesn't move slowly, does he?" Zoicite mutters with a smile, returning to his post.

"You're sure everyone's okay with this, Aurora? I mean, Earth…" Dawn's fair-haired cousin asks anxiously over the communicator.

"Absolutely! It's a brilliant idea to have you as a bridesmaid! And for that, you need to be with me while I'm planning." Aurora is outwardly enthusiastic about getting her cousin involved, but inwardly dreading it. Aurora's opinion of Princess Serenity was known anyone in the Corona Palace, and it was definitely derisive. Aurora did give her credit in the political arena, since most people were apt to underestimate the blonde princess, but the romanticist ditz act wore thin on Aurora's fiery temper very quickly.

"Does Mother know about this?" Serenity asks, her shrewd political bent peeking in by way of paranoia.

"Their Majesties, our Mothers, talked about it yesterday. Queen Serenity gave her hearty approval of the plan," Aurora reassures her cousin with a smile. The blonde's face broke into a broad grin.

"Wonderful, Aurora. I'd be delighted to be in the wedding party!" Serenity lowers her voice and continues in a conspiratorial whisper, "I've always wanted to see Earth from closer than the Palace."

Aurora had the faintest feeling that this was suddenly a very bad idea… but it was done. She'd see it through.

"Endymion, tell me what's wrong. Surely you trust me?" Aurora prods her fiancé as they took a break from the wedding plans with a walk in the gardens. It had been a trying two months for them both; rearranging the guest list to accommodate for Aurora's relatives from the Moon and their entourage, scrabbling to get Serenity's fittings for her bridesmaid dress up to speed on top of all the other fittings and arrangements to be made.

"Aurora… I trust you implicitly, you know that," Endymion responds wearily, taking her hand out of long habit. "I have something very important to say," he adds hesitantly, pulling her off the path to sit on a bench beneath a tree. Aurora's heart leaps to her throat, her hopes soaring and her stomach sinking at the same rapid pace. "Aurora… I consider you my best friend, and you've been more than I could've dreamed of from an arranged marriage." He pauses unsure of how to continue before he decides to just leap headfirst. "I've fallen in love, Aurora…"

A peel of laughter distracts the couple from the discussion at hand, bringing their attention to Serenity racing Endymion's sister, Princess Persephone, through the garden on another path, apparently having just been released from another fitting. Aurora catches the smile briefly light up Endymion's blue eyes out of the corner of her vision and all hope dies swiftly in her heart.

"But it's not with me." Her simple statement brings Endymion's attention back to the Sun Princess. Endymion wants nothing more to soothe the hurt he'd caused her, but she turns cold abruptly, as though her sun-like presence had gone behind a thick cloud. She stands, taking her hand out of his, never once looking directly at him. "It's alright. I understand. I won't hold you to the contract…" Aurora continues, managing to pull enough composure together to look Endymion in the eyes. He inwardly cringed at how cold her eyes had gone. "I need to leave," she adds, turning and walking quickly away.

"Aurora… I…" Endymion fumbles but Dawn doesn't acknowledge him, instead summoning the two zodiacs on guard (Capricorn and Sagittarius) and Serenity. The Moon Princess casts a remorseful glance in the direction of the Earth Prince, who catches it, before following her cousin.

"How did she find out?!" Queen Dawn rages at her brother over the communicator.

"I don't have any idea as to how, but when she did, she did something that made the alliance impossible…" King Twilight answers evenly.

"She didn't." Queen Dawn's face goes ashen with the implication. "She couldn't use it –"

"Yes… I think she did," Twilight responds seriously. Dawn's face went hard with fury again.

"Watch her closely, brother. Make note of anything we can use later," Dawn orders evenly, only the fire flashing in her eyes giving away the rage she was feeling.

"Yes, sister."

She disconnects the channel and brings up another communications frequency, sighing with some resignation, but her resolve remains firm.

"What do you want?" asks the corrupt queen, Beryl of the Dark Kingdom, formerly a trusted general of Earth.

"Queen Beryl, greetings and salutations from the Sun Kingdom. I have a proposition for you," Dawn responds evenly.

"I'm listening," Beryl answers.

"The Sun Kingdom will lend its assistance to your war against the Moon Kingdom, but we want custody of Mercury and half of Earth," Dawn proposes, a conspiratorial smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I am also willing to send a recent arrival of formidable power to you. Her name is Metallia and she will give you abilities even I do not know the full extent of."

"Intriguing idea, Queen Dawn… What do you propose for the Prince? I have my sights set on him." Beryl seems honestly interested but her last comment puts a small kink in Dawn's plans but she immediately creates another plan to deal with that kink.

"If you want him, you can have him, though the Sun Kingdom would want the first-born son for the Crown Princess' first-born daughter," Dawn replies, not mentioning that the Sun would likely turn on the Dark Kingdom as soon as they could gather the force needed for such an assault.

"That does sound like a very good agreement. I'll contact you after this Metallia arrives, but I expect it will be an agreeable arrangement. Expect my signal in an Earth Standard hour," Beryl responds.

"Wonderful. I look forward to working with you, Queen Beryl," Dawn says with a smile before disconnecting that channel and turning away from the communicator station to inform her generals of the current plans.

"Aurora! Come out already! You can't hide in there forever," Princess Estella yells as she pounds on her sister's door. A telepathic sob responds to Estella's scolding. Resorting to an old trick she had used when Queen Dawn was trying to break Aurora and herself up for specific training, Estella uses her identical twin status to override the locks on Aurora's door. Getting the door unlocked, she enters the Crown Princess's rooms and closes the doors behind her, allowing them to lock again.

"Aurora…" Estella repeats, quieter now that she wasn't on the other side of the door. "Stop hiding it… Everyone knows you're hurt… Seeing you try to hide it just proves how much," she says affectionately as she sits next to Aurora on her bed. Aurora's only acknowledgement of her sister's words is to shift slightly to lay her head on Estella's lap and to grip tightly at her sister's hand, still silently crying. The Gemini Guardian feels a ring biting into her hand and pries Aurora's hand away from hers long enough to twist the jade band around so the ruby rose wouldn't dig into her palm painfully. She sighs at the sight, knowing why Aurora kept the ring Endymion had given her for their engagement. Estella obliges her older sister and strokes Aurora's hair soothingly until the older girl falls asleep.

Estella stares at her hand, not long after Aurora's breathing had evened into a sleeping pattern, the contrast of the kunzite and steel ring against her sister's red hair transfixing her with memories of her own lost love.

"Kunzite..." she breathes, bowing her head and only then allowing her own grief to spill over.

Prince Orion Helios, resplendent in the gold-trimmed ruby-red uniform of the Solar Army, advances on the Earth Palace with the rearguard of the youma army at his command. Green eyes blankly survey the aftermath of the attack he'd planned and ordered.

Bodies of those who'd resisted are dragged out of the palace and some of the more perverse youma take advantage of the fresh bodies. Most of the bodies the young prince recognizes as the royals and nobility that lived in the palace. The palace guards stand off to one side without a scratch on them and looking numb from shock, surrounded by a force field that some youma had put up and were maintaining. Atop the palace, a shimmering and opalescent shield ripples with physical and magical attacks that seems to do nothing to weaken the defense. Two forms are visible within the shield; Prince Endymion and Princess Diane of Cancer; but Orion did not truly see who was resisting.

"Commander," one of the higher ranking youma says, coming up to Orion's side and bowing slightly, "the palace has been taken, as you ordered, sir... But there's still some resistance from one of the royals on the roof."

"If I may interrupt?" a smooth voice asks. Kunzite, followed by the other three Generals of Earth, strode confidently through the masses of youma and, upon reaching the Sun Prince, all four go down on one knee. "The Shitenou turn themselves to the command of Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom and Queen Dawn of the Sun Kingdom."

Orion takes in the sight of the bowing generals, and glances again to the roof, where he sees the forms watching him.

"Put down the resistance," he orders, his voice hollow. Kunzite nods an acknowledgement as the Shitenou rose and the four turn to carry out the prince's order.

"Endymion, go!" Cancer says, turning from the sight of the man she knew as well as a brother to the prince she'd promised her princess she'd protect.

"Why are you protecting me?" Endymion demands, ignoring Cancer's plea.

"Because my princess ordered it! For the love of anything, Endymion, I can't hold this shield forever. Go!" Cancer pleads, cracks starting to spider along the shell-like defense and along her own armor, turning the opalescent armor and shield a dark sea blue.

"I won't go to to your princess," Endymion spits as the roof started to clear of youma, leaving it eerily quiet atop the palace.

Cancer sighs, resigned. "That doesn't matter to me... or her. My order is to protect you..." She trails off as she notices the Shitenou advancing on her position, swords drawn. "Go where your heart takes you... But go." Endymion finally makes his way into the small escape shuttle within the shield's perimeter. He hesitates at the shuttle door, looking back at the Zodiac Guardian.

"Go, Endymion. GO-AH!" Her pleads are cut off by a cry of pain as all four of the Shitenou attack the shield, blasting through it with physical and magical attacks that converge on Cancer. Her armor turns dark blue and shatters, leaving only her fuku bloody and torn as she collapses with her shield. Endymion, for once immediately heeding Cancer's pleas, sets a course for the moon and makes his escape.

The Shitenou converge on the unconscious senshi, poised to finish her off when Orion arrives on the rooftop.

"Hold!" he commands, seeing Cancer for the first time as he comes out of his shocked state. The Shitenou halt in their tracks, and Orion rushes to Cancer's side, finding her still alive, but mortally wounded. He gathers Cancer up in his arms and carries the wounded Guardian quickly to his shuttle, which is on its way to the Corona Palace with equal alacrity.

Estella runs with Orion through the corridors of the Corona Palace with an heavily sedated but stable Diane on the gurney between them. Way is made as Gemini orders, at the top of her voice, everyone out of their path to the main departure pad. Word had just come to the Commander of the Princess' Guard that the Queen's Guard intended to leave, and Gemini and Orion had resolved then to see Cancer on the departing ship.

When they arrive on the platform, the ship is already prepared to take off and Queen Azraelia of Aries is just about to disappear onboard.

"WAIT!" Gemini cries out, catching the attention of her mentor, Queen Aedalyn of Gemini. Estella and Orion renew their pace and cross the platform to the shuttle at a dead sprint with more than just their hands keeping the gurney from toppling and swerving from the speed.

"Estella, what's wrong?" Aedalyn asks her protege, anxiously looking at Diane's lax form.

"We know you're leaving but you've got to take Diane with you. Please!" Estella begs, backed up by Orion's agreeing nod.

"Of course, but don't you need her, Estella? She's your Second," Queen Phoebe of Cancer asks pointedly as she joins her fellow of the Queen's Guard. Diane moves her hand to grasp at Estella's wrist and clutches Estella's jacket sleeve weakly, protesting Estella's intent to send her away even in her injured state. Estella looks down at her childhood friend with a sad smile.

"I can't, in good conscience, keep her here. If I do, it would kill her and I couldn't live with myself if that happened. I want her out of here, at least until she's better," Estella says vehemently. Phoebe and Aedalyn nod with her reasoning but that agreement turns to confusion at a new sight. Estella turns to find the rest of the Princess' Guard making their way onto the ship as well.

Estella moves quickly and uses the pretense of getting Diane on the ship to maneuver next to Pisces, one of the princesses on her own team of four.

"Where are you going, Narissa?" Estella asks the Princess of Pisces. Narissa, startled, whirls in her tracks to face the commander of the Princess' Guard.

"Estella! Well... It's obvious. We're going with the Queen's Guard," she responds as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Estella blinks, shocked.

"Why?" she queries weakly. Princess Resa of Aries and Princess Callisto of Taurus join the small gathering at the base of the ship's ramp, most of both guards having already boarded the ship.

"Well... The Queen's gone mad, the Princess doesn't leave her rooms for anything less than an order from the Queen and she's just as crazy as the Queen in her own way... We didn't sign on to risk our lives for a couple of insane royals and their plan to conquer the system," Resa responds coldly, and Callisto nods in agreement.

Estella shakes herself out of her shock and spits, "then what did you sign on for, Resa?" but her question fell on deaf ears as Resa pulls Diane's gurney onto the ship with Callisto's assistance. Narissa remains, looking apologetic.

"Why don't you come with us, Estella?" she asks her commander and team leader. Estella scowls at Narissa as though the idea were repugnant.

"Go," Estella snaps as she turns her back on Narissa, making Narissa recoil away from her and scamper up the ramp, leaving Estella facing Aedalyn alone.

"I'm sorry, Estella..." Aedalyn says quietly, putting a hand on her student's shoulder. Estella sighs.

"I don't blame you... It was probably Azraelia's decision... and I can't even blame you all for agreeing with it... Mother has gone insane," Estella responds, equally quiet, only showing Aedalyn the uncertainty and emotional anguish she feels.

"But that's no excuse for them," Aedalyn replies, sensing the unspoken words in Estella's mind. Estella nods, not daring to voice her thoughts. Her queen gives her a kind smile. "The Queens are sorry we didn't pick a better court for you and your sister, Commander Gemini." Estella's eyes snap up from her feet at Aedalyn's use of her more formal title and, with those words, Aedalyn leaves Estella to board the ship.

Estella forces herself to watch as her second mother disappears into the hold and the door closes, quickly followed by a gust of wind and the ship takes off. When the ship was out of sight from the landing platform of the Corona Palace, Estella turns to find not only Orion but her sister waiting for her. Aurora's gaze continues to follow the ship as though she might watch it all the way to the Zodiac Court beyond the edge of the system, her face listless and posture sagging from the weight of her depression.

Estella puts an arm around Aurora which is matched by Orion as they turn to go back inside the palace. "Come on," she says, her voice betraying only a hint of her emotions, "let's get you somewhere safe."

"Brother, is Serenity watching you?" Dawn asks quietly over the communicator. Twilight shakes his head in the negative.

"Is she in the same room?" she asks again, and again, Twilight shakes his head.

"Wonderful, listen closely… All those notes you've been keeping on the Queen? And the dagger I sent you last month?" Queen Dawn waits for Twilight's acknowledgement before continuing. "Use. Them."

"They mean to do what?!" Beryl screeches at the general that had just reported in.

Jadeite cringes but repeats, "I heard one of the Solar Generals saying that the Sun Kingdom means to attack us as soon as the Moon has been defeated."

"Well… We'll just see about that. Attack the Sun as well. Target the generator. It's underneath the palace… Don't try to get through the palace to it. Come from the side," Beryl orders. Jadeite bows.

"Yes, milady."

Queen Serenity again is furious. Her plans to ruin the Sun Kingdom's scheme were going up in smoke. The Earth was being steadily taken over by Queen Metallia and Queen Beryl. Animosity towards the Golden Kingdom was growing with each report of another province that fell to the advancing Negaverse armies. She wouldn't even think about the provinces that willingly joined. Now, though, she had bigger things to worry about… Like the massing forces on Earth poised for attack on the Moon… And the fact that the Sun Kingdom's forces were among them.

She had the small consolation that if she was going to go out, at least she got this over the would-be rulers of the system.

"Senshi, would all but Mercury please report for a briefing," Serenity calls over the small personal communicators. Mercury was the weakest link against the sun, since Arcadia Suisei and her family are known to have very good relations with (and a hefty reliance on) the Sun Kingdom.

"Yes, your Majesty," all chorus back.

Good little puppets, Serenity thinks as the Senshi guard for Princess Serenity filter into the room.

"I have some tragic news, girls… The Sun Kingdom has joined forces with Queen Beryl. An attack is imminent… Be on your guard at all times," Serenity orders firmly, failing to mention why the Sun Kingdom would've turned on the Moon. It would've been asked if Mercury had been in the meeting. Serenity delights in the enraged looks on Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter and Mars' faces. Saturn is ambivalent as always, and Venus nods only slightly hesitantly in acquiescence to Serenity's order… But Cadence of Charon looks at Serenity with thinly veiled hatred and it gives the Moon Queen pause.

"Dismissed," Serenity states simply with an equally dismissive gesture. "Except for you, Charon."

Amidst the other senshi bowing and leaving, Charon stands still, maintaining her hateful stare. When all had left, Serenity opens her mouth to speak but Charon cuts her off quickly. "I don't wish to hear your excuses for meddling in time and fate. I'm returning to the Time Gate. My duty and loyalty lies there, first and always foremost. And for meddling with time, you will not escape my judgement. The next time you use the Silver Crystal, you will die. It doesn't matter what you're using it for. You could use it to heal some poor beggar, but you will die."

"Good day, your Majesty," Charon spits the honorific out like it left a sour taste in her mouth, "and good luck dealing with the upcoming battle. I wash my hands of it."

With that, the senshi of time travel turns on her heel and leaves the Queen's chambers, leaving the queen quite possibly more furious than she'd been before. She storms away to her private rooms, where she finds her husband dressed to the nines for the ball that would be taking place shortly. It didn't seem to be out of place until she notices the dagger that hangs at his hip.

"You've gone too far, Queen Serenity," Twilight says, piercing her with the fiercely determined look in his dusk blue eyes, as he draws the silvered dagger from its sheath and attacks.

The palace rocks, sending Queen Dawn staggering into the control panel for the outside surveillance. She watches as the Negaverse forces shoot down each escape vessel. She'd gotten the report from her General on Earth that the Dark Kingdom had found out the Sun Kingdom's plan to turn against them once they were weak from their victory against the Moon. She'd felt the connection to her brother get severed, that meant he'd died in his attempt to take down Queen Serenity.

This was not a year for plans going as intended.

Another explosion rocks the very foundations of the castle and Dawn sees immediately what had been hit… The generator. Biting back a curse, Dawn makes her way quickly to her rooms. There, she quickly finds what she'd been searching for, the red crystal glittering as the radium lights' illumination hit it. Her husband comes in at that moment and sees the crystal in her hands.

"Dawn…" Solaris says quietly, knowing that the Red Star Crystal is the only way to save anyone, let alone their palace.

"We're doomed, Solaris…" Dawn responds. "We won't be able to get the generators fixed in time. Serenity's likely as doomed… That's my only consolation… I'll send the children where she's sending her daughter's court." Dawn waves her hand and a staff appears in it. The staff is five feet tall, topped with a large eight-point star, the symbol of the Sun Kingdom. The eight-point star had a hole in its center that looked like it could perfectly hold the Red Star Crystal. Dawn puts the crystal in the hole, where it clicks smoothly into place, and stares at it, concentrating on her children's' lives… Her heart skips a beat as she realizes that part of the palace had collapsed in one of the explosions, killing Aurora, Estella and Orion and their cat, Apollo. She refocuses herself quickly, her attention now fiercely focused on carefully packaging their memories and sending the four into the stream of souls coming from the Moon. Let Serenity spend the effort of getting the children to the future… Dawn thinks as she withdrew her focus from the crystal.

Solaris catches Dawn as she staggers. She smiles weakly up at him. "Let's go out our own way, shall we, my love?"

"When have we done it any other way?" Solaris retorts with a smile.

A minute later, a small escape shuttle is released from the bottom side of the Corona Palace platform and it flies fast into the sun, allowing the sun to destroy them instead of the Dark Kingdom. Not long after that, the shields around the platform lose the residual power and the platform is incinerated in the high temperatures in the sun's corona.

Nearly 5000 years in the future, May 27th, 1992…

In a small home in Kyoto's Funai District…

Nichiko Seino blinks awake the morning of her sixteenth birthday, disoriented from the dream of a past that seemed too real to be just a dream. Her cat, Apollo, meows at her, startling her.

"It's about time you woke up," Apollo says, quite clearly. Nichiko stares at the caramel-colored cat, as everything from the dream abruptly clicks into place.

"HIKARI! KISHI!"

"KISHI! NIKKO!"

"NIKKO! HIKARI!"

The Seino triplets yelled out each other's names at the same time, causing a cacophony that earned them a sound reprimand from their parents for waking them up.

Disclaimer: I do not, as I've long maintained, own Sailormoon, nor the premis for any of the characters you recognize from Takeuchi-sama's wonderful story. I do own Queen Dawn Helios, King Solaris Suisei-Helios, King Twilight Helios-Tsukiou, Princess Aurora Helios/Nichiko "Nikko" Seino, Princess Estella Helios/Hikari Seino, Prince Orion Helios/Kishi Seino, all Zodiac senshi that may or may not appear (though no claims upon anyone else's interpretations), the premise of the Sun Kingdom and why everything went to the proverbial shitter at the end of the Silver Millennium (which I also do not own). Credit for Princess Persephone and her guardians goes to Sake1 and my dear friend Mulberry gets credit for Princess Cadence of Charon/Sailorcharon.

Read, Review and Enjoy the story!
~Glimmer